OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A free-market think tank has now filed a complaint against an Oklahoma lawmaker.
In June, protective orders were filed against four members of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs following allegations from a state representative and his wife.
Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, said members of the organization sent him and his wife threatening text messages.
“I never dreamed when I started this that, I knew I’d be called all sorts of things and had my thrown my way and I was prepared for that,” said Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, as he alleged, he and his wife received threatening text messages. “I was not prepared for what I had to go through last week.”
Moore didn’t disclose what the messages said, but claimed they were threatening. He then reported them to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation the next morning.
“We took the steps necessary to protect my wife,” he said.
As a result, Moore’s wife filed protective orders against Ray Carter, Jonathan Small, Hallie Milner and Dave Bond.
“They see me as an incredible threat to the propaganda and issues that they were trying to push,” Moore said. “There’s not a race in the world, there’s not a job in the world. there’s not an amount of money in the world worth losing your integrity.”
The OCPA also fired back in a statement:
“To the best of our knowledge, no OCPA staff member has ever communicated with, or attempted to communicate with, Rep. Moore’s spouse, in any way, at any time.
While some staff members may, in their personal time, get involved in campaigns, none of that activity is done on behalf of OCPA. And again, so far as we know, none of that activity has ever involved any contact or attempted contact with Rep. Moore’s spouse. The use of the court system to attack and smear policy opponents is beyond the pale.”
TRENT ENGLAND, OCPA’S DAVID & ANN BROWN FELLOW
Now, court documents show that Moore’s wife has moved to dismiss those protective orders.
Trent England, with the OCPA, said that after their own investigation, they believe that Moore’s spouse received one text message that was not threatening in nature.
“In fact, no OCPA staff member has ever had any contact with Rep. Moore’s spouse. One junior OCPA staff member, on her personal time, did send Rep. Moore (but not his spouse) two non-threatening text messages. While we do not condone that behavior, we recognize that this was a personal matter,” England wrote in a response.
On Friday, Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, filed a complaint with the Oklahoma State Bar Association against Rep. Moore.
The OCPA says Moore, who is an attorney and former prosecutor, “knows the law and is bound by the rules of legal ethics not to abuse the judicial process for his own political purposes.”
The complaint alleges that Moore helped his wife file frivolous VPOs against members of the organization.
Small is asking the Oklahoma State Bar Association to do their own investigation into the protective orders.
“There never were any grounds, legal or factual, for these protective orders. This was a political ploy by Moore to bully his critics and position himself as a victim before his election. He is entitled to his opinions and his freedom of speech, but he has no right to abuse legal processes. As an attorney, he is bound by the Rules of Professional Conduct,” said Small. “The Oklahoma State Bar Association should hold Moore accountable. If it finds that he misled the court or committed any crimes, his ability to practice law in our state should be over.”